Tuesday, June 9, 2015

'The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness' by Tabitha Barret

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Michelle Black lives an average life as she looks to her future beyond high school, but she is not an average girl. Plagued by nightmares of Hell and the unusual ability to see the sins of men, she stands apart from those around her. Deceived by a voice controlling her mind, she finds herself trapped in the place of her nightmares, Hell.

The ruler of Hell, the Angel of Darkness, tells her that she must now serve him, and she is forced to face the Realms of Torture. Strange things begin to happen as she senses that she is being deceived and is meant to be more than just a servant. The Angel of Darkness tries to gain her trust by professing his love for her, but she knows that he is keeping the truth from her. She will need to survive enemies hidden in the shadows who conspire to destroy her. Will she learn the truth about who she is and what she is destined to become before it’s too late? 

The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness is the first book in the series that introduces us to Michelle Black and her dark destiny. She must fight to survive in Hell as she searches for the terrifying truth about the darkness that resides deep inside of her.

Anjali was fascintating. She was brave. And powerful. And determined. Her sudden change did surprise me. It seemed like once she knew who she was, she accepted an entirely different personality. She was an entirely different person.
It was hard to keep up with her name changes. Annoyed me a bit. Mistress. Michelle. Anjali. Lady Black. It was so quick when she changed. It was as if she was changing personalities. And she didn't even know about her powers when she became Anjali's personality. Okay... She didn't even know how powerful she could be. But she became cocky and outspoken. I think I preferred Michelle. Michelle was good. A bit innocent. A bit naive. A tad shy. These all made her interesting. A different side of the coin compared to Lucifer's roughhousing attitude. (The kill and think later attitude.)
Lucifer wasn't too bad. He did have his qualities. He had a soft side. Which was only exposed when Anjali was present. (And even that isn't a soft side per se.) But he was tough and rough. I liked that he did punish people for doing things they weren't supposed to, but he wasn't a good leader or anything. He didn't really interest me as much as he should have. He did seem a bit tough. (Poor Mark.) But he can change. No. He will change. Anjali made him softer. More open. Less tough. Less rough. But too much will destroy him. Destroy Hell. So I'm not sure how great Anjali's influence on him is. (Just picture a bunny-hugging Lucifer. Can't? Me too.)

The plot was odd. It went through several different phases all at once. It started off as some crazy love story with a bit of a love-hate relationship. It then transitioned into this becoming brave story for Anjali. Then Anjali is being hunted. (Gasp.) And she has to fight back. We end on a different note, though.
The love story was a bit...creepy. Like...steamy and creepy at the same time. If that is even possible. I wanted to say it was a good romance...but no. It wasn't really that good. I thought it was a bit annoying. The two seemed to clash at every opportunity.
Then the turning-powerful-learning-yourself part. Anjali changed too quickly. She became someone she wasn't at the start very quickly. Like...ten pages quickly. (That quickly.) She became eternally cocky and sassy. (I don't mind the sass, of course.) She just didn't seem...right. She seemed to be a bit of an oddball there. And all the times she was pushed to her limit? Insert blast of powerful mojo. Whoop whoop! It seemed like she had so many things that happened to her. Bad things. And people who hated her. (Why? Because she could survive in the realms of Hell? Like that's a bad thing. The angels should be taking notes, so they can make the realms worse.)
And the hunted. Okay. This came at the ending. If it came in the middle or so, I might have different thoughts. But it was the ending. 'Oh. Now, you're powerful. The bringer of the Apocalypse. And now you have to worry about being stabbed in the back. Gasp!' Erm...okay? I don't see why these people are attacking now. Why not attack when Lucifer brought her in? She was more exposed then! I don't get their reasoning.

The romance was...steamy. Steamy steamy. It was comprised mostly of Lucifer and Anjali banging. (Or however you care to call it.) And then fighting. Making up. And banging again. Lucifer destroyed himself, whining and wailing. Anjali was hungry for Lucifer. It seemed like a vicious cycle that would never end. Sigh.
I didn't expect how detailed the sex scenes got. I knew it would have sex but not as explicit as it got. (It shocked me.) But...I got...accustomed to them. (If accustomed is the right word.) They still shocked me. (I hadn't read many explicit sex scenes. Most books just fade to black and let things be hinted at.) I don't think I liked them. Nope. Definitely didn't like them. If I was older and more mature, it would be a different story. But now? Nope. Didn't like them.

But. I had a problem with the grammar. The missing commas. The words that were wrong or misplaced. It annoyed me a bit. I know my grammar isn't perfect. I miss words or add words instead. (The English language can be confusing for me sometimes. It's like my brain doesn't compute what I'm hearing, writing, or reading. I'm often left nodding in confusion to random statements like 'I like pizza'.) It did annoy me, though. A few misplaced commas is one thing. If it's repeated, that's a trend. And it isn't a good trend.

The ending started to lure me in. So much started to happen. It lured me in. It seemed like all her changes and the attacks made Anjali different. Stronger perhaps? Who knows? I started to want to know more. Like the Predznak. Will they submit? Will they let her be their Master? And when is the Apocalypse? Will Anjali be killed? Will Lucifer be killed? How about Gabriel? Will Lucifer turn into a sniveling wimp? Questions questions questions. They kept coming. I'm officially lured in
Sure, the sex turned me off. It did. Did I feel like it could have been more censored? Yup. Did I like the romance? No. Did I like the characters? Not really. Was this book good? Not really.
But the ending drew me in. That's why I might continue the series. If it is a series. (And it sorta has to be.)


Weather:
Cloud with a 75% chance of rain
2.5/5

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